Back to the BeginningSort of
by poet84
Summary: Dean volunteers Sam to help Sarah on a hunt to get whatever information she may have on their dad while he stays behind and gets to know BUffy a little better. More than one old flame will ignite. The third installment of the Long Road Ahead series
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural are the property of their owners/creators. All original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.  
*This is the third installment of the Long Road home series. There is slight sexuality but nothing explicit*

She had been driving for the last 17 hours only stopping to pee and eat. Pulling up into the driveway that led to the school Buffy realized that she probably should have called and warned them that she was bringing more than just an extra slayer home. It's not like the Winchesters would be unwelcome, but they would definitely be a surprise.

She pulled around back and parked in what was labeled 'faculty parking' but was actually used for everyone that was there. Only parents and outsiders parked in front. Dean parked next to her and got out to stretch. Sam sat in the passenger's seat for a few minutes just staring at the school. When he did get out he went straight to the trunk to grab his bag.

"Welcome to slayer school boys."

It was hard to see what it really looked like because it was so dark, but from what they could tell it looked like any other stuffy boarding school. "Sweet. Got a couple of beds for us? If not I could always share with you." Dean put his arm around Buffy and smiled. She by no means minded sharing a bed with Dean but she didn't want to make it easy for him.

"Sorry sweetie. Only real men can share my bed." Sam busted out laughing while Kailey, the new slayer girl, started blushing fiercely.

Dean pretended to grab his chest in pain, "Ouch, that hurt Summers."

Buffy led the way inside through the atrium. They didn't run into anyone until they made it to the lobby. Some of the girls were running down the hall toward the 'auditorium' which basically served as their war room. "Hey where's the fire?"

A young girl with long black dread locks and a wicked scar on her neck turned to regard Buffy. "Hey Buffy, when did you get in?"

"Just now. What's going on?"

"Giles called a mandatory meeting. Everyone is gathering in the war room."

"Is everything okay?" Buffy really didn't feel like dealing with another apocalypse right now.

"As far as I know everything is fine. I think it has something to do with parents wanting to come to visit the school."

"Oh, good. Where is everyone else?"

"They're all in the meeting."

Buffy was relieved to have a little bit of time before explaining why the Winchesters were here. "Could you take Kailey here with you and maybe show her around afterwards? I need to go get these guys settled in."

"Sure. Are they going to be staying here too?" She inclined her head toward Sam and Dean.

"Just for a couple of days." Rona nodded then walked off toward the auditorium with Kailey in tow.

Buffy led the boys up to the west wing dormitories where the adults lived. "Thanks for not making us sit through that meeting. It sounded lame."

Buff looked over her shoulder at Dean, "No problem. It's probably going to be an hour of Giles talking and girls sleeping. Major borefest." She opened the last door at the end of the hall, "Here you go Sam. Dean you're right across the hall in that room." She pointed at his door.

They didn't go into the rooms, but stood there looking at her. "Thanks. When can we talk to Sarah?"

"That meeting is probably going to last a little while so why don't you get some rest and we can talk to her in the morning."

Dean knew she was staling but didn't know why. "Sure. I could use a night away from Sam."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Buffy walked Dean to his door, "So why do ya want us to wait til tomorrow to talk to Sarah? You're obviously staling. The question is why?"

She gave him a mischievous grin, stretched up on her tip toes, and lightly kissed his lips. "I have other things on my mind tonight."

He was a little surprise but pleased, "What happened to 'only real men can share my bed'?"

"That was my bed. I didn't say anything about your bed." She pushed him into the room and shut the door behind her.

Sam went into his room and shut the door. He was glad to be away from Dean for a little while. He wanted some time to think without his big brother staring at him the whole time. The car ride here he felt like shoving a sock in Dean's mouth. It was the same right after Jessica was killed. He would ask if Sam was okay and if he wanted to talk every couple of hours.

He kicked his shoes off and stretched out on the bed. As much as he wanted to go find Sarah and talk to her, he didn't want to do it when he was sleep deprived. Who knows what might come out of him mouth.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean woke up really early the next morning to hair tickling his nose. He opened his eyes and saw the back of Buffy's head. He was holding her body tight to his. That was the best night's sleep he'd had in a long time. He slid his arm from around her waist and brushed her hair out of his face. When he went to move she moaned and he stopped. His arm was trapped under her pillow so he lifted it up slightly and pulled his arm out. He threw on some clothes and turned back to the bed. The headboard was busted where Buffy had been gripping it. He smiled and sat down on the bed next to Buffy. He watched her for a few minutes before she started to stir.

Buffy wasn't comfortable anymore. She opened her eyes and saw Dean sitting on the edge of the bed looking at her. "Morning beautiful." He had a cocky smile on his face and was already dressed.

"Morning." She sat up taking the covers with her. "What time is it?" She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and groaned.

"Why don't you throw some clothes on and show me where I can get some food in this place?" He started slowly sliding the blankets off of her and she let him. When she went to reach for her clothes though, he stopped her. "I think I changed my mind. It seems like such a waste to let you get dressed right now." The kiss he gave her was very deep and passionate. She laid back pulling him down with her.

Sam woke up to muffled noises in the hallway. It took him a minute to realize where he was, but when he did he jumped out of bed and threw his shoes on. He opened the door to his room and walked out to find the noises her heard earlier were Xander and Willow talking. "Come on Will. It's good to get away from here sometimes and make with the fun."

"I don't know Xander. I just got back from helping the coven track down girls, I have a ton of work to do here, I haven't been sleeping well lately, and honestly, I just don't feel like it."

He put his arm around her shoulder, "Come with me tonight and I will help you with your work tomorrow."

She smiled knowing that the only reason he offered to help was because he knew he wouldn't be able to. It was an offer he knew he wouldn't have to follow through with. She nodded, "Alright. I'll go."

"Whew hoo! Maybe Buff will come too."

"When did she get back?"

Sam smiled and decided he would answer her, "Last night and she brought a couple of strays home with her."

They spun around at the sound of his voice, "Sam!?" they said in unison. Willow ran up and gave him a hug followed by Xander.

"How have you guys been?"

"We're great! How about you? What have you been doing? Is Dean here too?"

"Relax Will."

Sam laughed. "It's okay. I'm okay for the most part. I've been traveling with Dean for the last few months looking for our dad. Dean is here too, but he's probably still asleep."

Xander slapped Sam on the back, "Good to see ya man. Hungry?"

"Yeah, actually I'm starving." His stomach had been screaming at him since last night but he didn't want to leave his room and not be able to find it again.

Willow grabbed him by the arm and started leading him down the stairs, "Ooh have you seen Sarah yet? She does most of the cooking."

His stomach did a little flip which had nothing to do with being hungry. "No, you guys are the first I've seen since I got here. We crashed as soon as Buffy showed us our rooms."

"So how is everyone else? Where's Oz?"

Willow stumbled a little on one of the steps, "Oz and I broke up freshman year of college. I haven't seen him in years. Everyone is good. Dawnie is at college but she comes home a lot. Giles is still British. Faith is…well you'll see."

"I thought Faith was evil?"

"Not anymore. She is back with the good guys."

They rounded the corner and ran into a group of girls talking about the best way to take down a Turok-Han vampire. Another girl was naming demons from pictures that her friend was showing her. Willow and Xander just kept walking like this was a normal thing to see. This was a very different kind of school.

Willow opened a set of double doors leading into a large cafeteria. There were people everywhere eating, talking, and laughing. Sam spotted Giles sitting at a far corner table with Faith and another guy. They started walking toward the table when Giles looked up and spotted them. His expression was one of surprise. Faith was waiving her hand in front of Giles's face and turned to see what he was looking at. She had a confused look on her face before it dawned on her who he was.

"Well if it isn't the littlest Winchester all grown up."

"Hello Faith. Nice to see you're not evil anymore. How've you been?"

"Five by five." She stood up.

Sam's eyes almost popped out of his head. "You're pregnant!?"

She laughed, "Yeah it's new. Figure…what the hell right?" She gestured to the man sitting next to her, "This is Robin Wood." He stood and shook Sam's hand. "He's the one to blame for ruining me. Making me all monogamous and crap."

Sam appraised him, "You're brave."

Robin laughed, "No, I'm just that good." Sam laughed with him and Faith hit him playfully.

Giles stood and shook Sam's hand next. "It's good to see you again Sam. There isn't any trouble we should know about is there?"

Sam shook his head, "No trouble. Buffy brought Dean and I here to talk to Sarah."

"Oh, very well then."

The door opened next to them and out walked Sarah. She was followed by several girls carrying huge dishes filled with food. Sam's heart started to race. Part of him had been expecting to see the cute young girl that he dated in Sunnydale. Instead there was a beautiful woman standing there. She had to be close to 6 foot by now with her dark brown hair reaching almost to her butt. The skirt she was wearing had slits up to her hips on both sides which showed off her long legs very well. His staring was interrupted by his brother coming up behind.

"Hey Sammy. I see you found the food." He slapped Sam on the back, "Hey guys, long time no see."

Sarah turned and noticed the Winchesters for the first time. There was a squeal of excitement, a 'Sam!' and Sarah jumped on him, wrapped her legs around him, and hugged him. He didn't have time to think about it, he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. She jumped down quickly and jumped on Dean.

"What are you doing here!?"

"Getting attacked by a crazy girl." Dean gave her the once over, "Look at you all grown up. You're lookin' good sweetheart."

He winked and she rolled her eyes at him. "You haven't changed at all have you?"

"Nope. And not planning on it anytime soon." Right then he caught site of Faith's belly. "Buffy said you were pregnant." He shook his head, "Didn't believe it."

"Next time you should listen to me." Buffy had walked up behind Dean. "What's for breakfast? I'm starving!"


	3. Chapter 3

After breakfast they sat in the living room and chatted for a while. Since it was the weekend and the girls were taking care of patrolling they were able to take it easy for a while. Nobody brought up anything supernatural. It seemed as though they all just wanted to keep the conversation light.

Around noon Sarah excused herself to take a call. Xander looked at his watch, "Oh Willow we should get going. Anyone else wanna come?"

"Where're you headed?"

"We're gonna meet Dawn at this huge music festival. It's free to get in."

Dean considered it for a moment, "What kind of music?"

Willow answered this time, "Rock and alternative mostly. It's neat."

Buffy looked to Dean, "You wanna go? It'll be fun." She smiled and nudged him with her arm.

"You're going?" She nodded. "Alright. I'm in."

Sam watched this with curiosity. Buffy and Dean had been flirting for the last couple of days, but as far as he knew nothing had happened yet.

Robin looked at Faith, "You feel up to going?"

"Hell yeah! Are you kidding me?"

"Apparently, we're in as well."

"Sam?"

He looked at Dean who was nodding, "What about finding dad?"

"It's one day Sammy. Lighten up and have some fun. You're the one who always wanted a normal life. Here ya go. One normal day."

He was thinking about it when Sarah came downstairs with a bag in her hand. "Sorry guys but that was Miles. He asked me to take care of a job over in Ada. I'm gonna be gone for a few days."

Dean and Sam jumped up, "What!? We came to see you!"

"I'm sorry but unless you want to ride along, I will be back in a couple of days."

"Sammy'll go with you. Come on, let's grab your stuff." Dean started pulling his brother upstairs.

"Hurry up. I'll meet you outside."

Sarah wasn't looking forward to this trip anymore. She knew why Sam and Dean had come to see her. John had explained when they talked on the phone. She didn't want to hurt them, but she made a promise to John.

When they got to Sam's room and Dean had closed the door, Sam started in on him. "What the hell Dean? Why did you tell her that I would go?"

"If you go with her you can get whatever information she has on dad. Besides, I figured you might want to spend some time with her."

Sam was furious at his brother but had to admit that he was right. He didn't want Dean to know that though. "Why don't we both just go with her? We can follow her down and then head out from there. Or is it really because you wanna spend some time with Buffy?"

"Hell yeah I wanna spend my time with Buffy! You think I wanna be trapped with you and Sarah hunting, when I can be here having fun?"

"Fine." Sam grabbed his bag and went for the door.

"Be careful."

"Whatever."

Sarah was standing next to an older Jeep with her leg propped up against the door. She was no longer wearing that skirt, but had changed into some low cut black jeans and a black spaghetti strap. "Ready?"

"Yeah. So, what are we hunting?" She climbed in the driver's seat and he got in the passenger's.

"Miles said it sounded like a Nightmare."

"As in a bad dream?" He was confused.

"Not that kind of nightmare. It's almost like a ghost. It turns into vapor and enters a person's bedroom and sits on their chest while they sleep which suffocates them."

"Doesn't seem all that scary to me."

"Their victim can't move. They are paralyzed and can't speak to call out for help. They can feel that something evil is there and know that they are going to die."

"So how do we kill it?"

"I didn't have much time to research it but I brought the book that deals with the nightmare demon." They pulled out onto the main road and Sarah turned on the radio. "What do you want to listen to? I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for."

Sam seemed almost shocked that she would ask his opinion. After riding with Dean for so long he had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that he would be listening to hair metal bands for the rest of his life. "Anything that Dean would hate."

Sarah laughed. She knew how anal Dean had been about his music. Guess not much had changed about that either. "Alright, grab that CD case back there. Put in anything that doesn't say classic rock and you're good."

Sam rifled through her case for a few minutes. He wasn't sure what anything was because they were nothing but mix tapes. Some said things like 'country' or 'R&B' and others just said 'mix'. It looked like she had everything in there. He grabbed one that was labeled 'everything' and threw it in. The first song that came on wasn't even in English. "What is this?"

"It's a Celtic band from Ireland. I can't remember the name right now but it's pretty good."

Sam sat back and listened to the music for a few minutes. She was right, it was good. He turned to regard her. So much had changed, and yet, she was still the same. With everything that she had been through her smile still had not diminished. She still seemed carefree. He had always admired that about her.

She noticed him staring, "What?"

"Nothing. You haven't changed." She laughed at him. "I'm serious. You still seem so happy. It's nice to see."

A serious look came over her face. "You've changed. You seem harder, angry." He couldn't deny it. He was angry. His dad disappeared on him and his girlfriend was murdered by a demon. He didn't really want to talk about this right now though. There were other questions he wanted answers to.

"So why didn't you call? After we left Sunnydale?"

She noticed the change of subject for what it was and was glad. "I did call…a few times. I left three messages on your dad's phone but no one ever called me back."

"What? We never got any messages."

John had gotten the messages but never told Sam about it. Sarah had asked him when they talked and he admitted to erasing them to stop Sam from getting hurt. She really didn't want to give Sam another reason to be mad at his dad though so she kept quiet. "Well I left them. After Xander and I broke down I thought about joining you guys. When I couldn't get a hold of you, I dropped it. We raised enough money for Xander to get back to Sunnydale and I went out on my own. I bought a car and traveled, hunting as I went."

"You were going to come back?"

"Yeah, I was."

He had been angry with her for not calling him when she left. Now that he knew she tried he could finally let go of that anger. She had wanted to come back to him. She really had cared about him. He might have to thank Dean for this later.


	4. Chapter 4

The music festival was filled with local bands as well as some that had traveled from the west coast. They walked around for a while before sitting on the grass off to one side. Willow was having fun as promised by Xander, but she was a little on edge for some reason she couldn't explain.

The band playing on the stage closest to them finished their set and walked off. They got one hell of a shock when they heard that Dingoes Ate My Baby was next. They knew Oz hadn't played for them since he left college but to see them here was crazy. What turned out to be the second biggest shock of the night was when they watched Oz follow Devon on stage.

Willow stood up and started walking toward the stage. Her brain registered that Buffy was calling her name but she didn't answer. She had dreamed about this which is why she hadn't been sleeping well. It was Oz! Now she knew why she was feeling on edge. She could feel him here.

They began to play, and as if he had felt her too, he looked up right into her eyes. He didn't take his eyes off of her the entire time they played. He just smiled. When their set was done he leapt off the stage and went straight to her and hugged her.

It was like he had never left. He still smelled the same. When he released her from the hug he took a step back. She didn't want him to move yet. "Hello Willow."

"Oz," was all she could say.

"I'm glad to see you're okay." She was confused, "I saw what happened to Sunnydale. I wasn't sure if you had made it out."

"Oh…yeah…that. We destroyed the hellmouth and Sunnydale went with it. Everyone's okay." She gave a slight shrug and smiled.

"Gladness."

"Anya is the only one that didn't make it out."

"So your girlfriend is okay? What was her name?"

"Tara died long before Sunnydale was destroyed. She was shot by this guy named Warren. I was dating this slayer named Kennedy for a little while but it didn't work out."

"Where's Buffy?"

"Oh she's fine. When we destroyed the hellmouth, I did this spell that caused all potential slayers to be called."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

He held out his hand, "You wanna take a walk with me?"

"Okay." She took his hand and it felt so right. Oz was really here. They walked off with Buffy and the gang staring after them with open mouths.

"So where have you been the last few years?"

"Traveling. I was upset when I left Sunnydale. I tried to find ways to get my mind off of you but it didn't work."

"I'm sorry. I didn't wanna hurt you."

His smile was genuine when he replied, "I know."

It felt good to be near Oz again. She had been through so much in the last few years that it was hard to really be positive. She watched people she cared about die and had to help Buffy stop the end of the world. It was like there was always something bad going on. With Oz here she almost felt like she was back in high school. She could smile and found herself telling him everything again. Oz had always been a great listener.

They had walked around the entire festival with no awkwardness. It was just right. "I missed you."

She looked in his eyes, "I missed you too. I've been having these dreams about you. Like, I knew you would be here. Not consciously, but part of me knew that you were near." The old Willow would have been self-conscious about telling Oz all of this, but she knew that he got it.

"I need to get my stuff packed up so Devon doesn't take off with it. You wanna help?"

"You aren't going with them?"

"No. They just asked me to fill in for this gig. The guy who normally plays with them sprained his wrist."

"Ouch. Where are you going from here?" Now she seemed a little self-conscious.

"I don't know. I thought I might stick around for a little while. If that's okay?"

"Of course it's okay! You could stay at the school if you want."

"Cool."

"Cool." Her smile couldn't have been any bigger and neither could his.


	5. Chapter 5

They reached Ada around 5:30 that night and checked into their motel. It was slightly nicer than Sam was used to because Sarah didn't want to 'sleep with fleas or rats' as she put it. He suggested they get something to eat before starting research, so they went down to a diner they had passed on the way into town called the 'Crossroads Diner'.

"Hey, you remember when we stopped in Salt Lake on our way to Sunnydale?"

She laughed, "Yeah we ate at that nasty Denny's and Dean gave you crap about liking me when I went to take a shower. What about it?"

"I don't know. Sitting here made me think of it. Although, the food is much better here."

"I agree. Not only that, there's no Dean to make you miserable this time."

No there certainly was no Dean this time. He remembered all the times he wished Dean would disappear when they were in Sunnydale. It took six years but he finally got his wish.

"You okay there Sam?" She had placed her hand on his.

"Yeah I'm fine. We should go research this demon and figure out how to kill it."

"Alright, I'm gonna go pay."

He watched her walk over to the counter and pay their waitress, then followed out to the car. When they reached the motel room he began cross referencing the information she gave him concerning the victims to see if he could find a pattern. She was going through the book she brought when she looked up, "Feel like visiting a tomb?"

"Huh?"

"If you place a nail from a tomb over your bedroom door it will prevent nightmare demons from entering. Also, if you block the hole where the nightmare enters a room, it will be trapped. I haven't found how to kill it yet, but I think we should protect ourselves first. I really don't wanna have to worry about it."

"Alright." He did a search of local cemeteries that contained mausoleums. The closest one was in Moorhead about 38 miles away. It was only 7 so they jumped in the car and headed for Moorhead.

They entered the first mausoleum they found. It had the name 'Burns' on it and contained several memorial plaques and a few caskets. They had just removed the nail they needed when they heard a loud crash followed by a woman screaming.

Sam emerged from the mausoleum with his gun cocked and ready. Sarah ran out behind him with twin silver daggers. They saw a man lying broken on top of an overturned headstone and a woman was being surrounded by three men.

Sam ran toward the men, but after spending so much time with slayers, Sarah had come to recognize vampires pretty easily. "Sam!" He didn't turn around but the vampires did. As soon as they turned around he knew his gun would be useless. He tried to stop but had too much momentum behind him. The closest vamp took advantage of his inability to stop by slamming his fist into Sam's face.

He hit the ground hard feeling blood trickling down his chin from his busted lip. He watched Sarah fly at the vamps beheading one. The other vamps changed their tactics when they realized that these two weren't going to be such an easy kill. Sam got to his feet, put his gun away, and got back into the fight hoping to distract one of the vamps to give Sarah a chance to take them out since she was the only one who had weapons that would be effective.

When she saw Sam get back to his feet she tossed him one of her daggers. The vamp facing her tried to take advantage of this momentary distraction but failed when Sarah ducked his fist, spun around grabbing the back of his hand, and used his momentum to slam him into the mausoleum they had just exited.

Sam, thankful for the weapon, advanced on his vamp with renewed confidence. They exchanged blows for a few minutes before Sam kicked him in the chest causing him to flip over a headstone. Sam jumped the headstone, landed on the vamp, and lopped his head off before he could get up and continue the fight.

He turned to see that Sarah's fight was not going very well. The vamp she was facing had her pinned to the ground with his teeth inches from her exposed neck. She was struggling to keep him off of her and slowly losing. Her struggle ended in a cloud of dust with Sam standing over her with his hand stretched out. She allowed him to help her to her feet and realized that she was hurt when pain shot through her leg.

"Aaahhh." She slumped down grabbing Sam for support.

"What is it? Where are you hurt?"

"My leg. It got cut or something when I was fighting that vamp."

"Should I take you to the hospital?"

"No, let's get back to the motel. I don't think it's that bad…Ugh…We can bandage it up." He helped her to the car and drove them back to Ada.

When they got there, he grabbed the first aid kit out of the trunk and helped her into the room. He went to set her down on the bed but she told him it would be better if they went into the bathroom. She cringed when she went to touch her leg. He tried to look at it but couldn't see anything because her pants were in the way.

"We need to get these off so we can clean it." She unbuttoned her pants and started to slide them off but stopped and took a sharp intake of breath. They were rubbing against her wound and causing it to hurt like hell. Sam tried to help her by pulling the fabric up as she slid them down. Once her pants were past her hip Sam pulled them the rest of the way off.

"This looks bad." He grabbed a washcloth and wet it down.

"It's not as bad as it looks. Hurts like hell though." She gave a strained laugh.

He turned back toward her and knelt down between her legs. He put one hand under her leg and used the other to gently clean the wound. He started at the top of her hip and worked his way down. The cut was about six inches long and went from the bottom of her hip and curved down toward her inner thigh.

"You know what this reminds me of?"

He looked up into her eyes, "No. What?"

"When you got attacked by a vampire and I had to bandage you up."

He laughed, "Yeah I still have that scar as a nice little reminder."

"It's funny, don't you think?"

"What is?"

"This trip. It's almost like we're teenagers again. Déjà vu everywhere."

"I hadn't really thought about it, but you're right."

They went quiet while he finished bandaging her up. He had such a gentle touch. "So, am I going to live?"

He laughed at her, "It wasn't as deep as it looked. You should be fine."

"Good, now get out."

"What?" His look was one of surprise.

"I need to put my pajamas on. You need to get out." She pushed him out the door, grabbed her bag off of the dresser, and went back in the bathroom.

He laughed and put his sweats on. When she emerged out of the bathroom she was wearing a little nightie that went down just below her hips. It barely covered the bandage. "Nice pajamas."

"Yeah, I was expecting to be sleeping alone tonight."

"And now you're not planning on sleeping alone?" he said raising his eyebrows.

"Okay I walked right into that one. What I meant was that I was planning to be alone in this room."

"Aw, okay."

"You have been spending way too much time with Dean." There was a smile on her face as she said it.


	6. Chapter 6

Sarah woke up to the sound of Sam struggling. He appeared to be having a nightmare. She knew it wasn't the demon because they had protected the room from it, but Sam was definitely not having a good dream. She got out of bed and sat down on his trying to wake him up. A glance at the clock showed that it was 2:47 in the morning. He was sweating and tossing back and forth. Finally, after a few minutes, his eyes popped open and he sat straight up in bed. He looked like he was going to attack her at first.

"Sam, it's okay. It's just me. You were having a bad dream that's all."

"It wasn't a dream. There's been another victim…a little girl." He was rubbing his head.

"What are you talking about? How would you know that?" She was starting to worry about him.

"Recently I started having dreams that have been coming true. Horrible dreams about people dying."

"Like premonitions?"

"Something like that."

"Do you know where this attack took place? We can go check it out. Maybe we'll get a lead on the demon."

He stared at her for a minute. Did she really believe him that quickly? Dean hadn't even believed him. "I know what the house looked like. That's it."

"Well let's go. This isn't a big town so we might be able to find it."

They had spent the entire night sharing stories and reminiscing about old times. Faith and Robin had went to bed the hour before leaving Xander, Willow, Oz, Buffy and Dean by the fire. Buffy thought there might be some awkwardness when Willow first told her that Oz was going to be staying at the school for a little while, but there was none. It was almost like senior year all over again without the threat of apocalypse hanging over their heads.

"I was living in San Francisco when Devon called me. A few months back a warlock found out I was a werewolf but that I was trying to control it. He tried turning me evil, and I was saved by some witches. Their white lighter didn't trust me, but they did." He just shrugged.

"What's a white lighter?" Something about it seemed familiar to Buffy.

"Pretty sure it's a guardian angel."

"What is it with you and Witches?" Dean asked. Willow punched him.

He just smiled in response.

"Well I for one am glad to have you back Oz." Xander stood up and yawned, "I'm off to dream world. I've got some new training equipment that I need to finish tomorrow, or rather, today."

Buffy looked at the clock, "Yeah we should all get some sleep. Lots of wisdom to impart tomorrow."

"Why didn't you ever settle down?" Sam asked to get the conversation going.

"I tried once. It didn't work. Even being as settled as I am, I still take hunting jobs. Sometimes I go by myself and other times I'll have some of the older slayer trainees with me. I can't have a relationship with a normal person because I would always be lying to them about what I do. Having a real relationship with another hunter would be hard because we know what happens. People get killed and if you are too busy worrying about someone else then that person will probably be you. It's just better not to settle down."

"I know what you mean. I tried to settle down when I went to college. She ended up getting killed by the same demon that killed my mom."

Sarah didn't answer him. She knew all about Jessica from John. She knew that she was going to have to tell him sooner rather than later. Just then they saw the house from Sam's dream. There were police cars and an ambulance parked right outside. They grabbed their FBI badges in order to get in to look at the crime scene. The sheriff on duty looked at them suspiciously, "You don't look like FBI agents."

"We were on our way to check into our motel when we saw the lights. There have been a high number of deaths in this county associated with victims suffocating in their sleep. We were assigned this case because we believe that it may be the work of a serial killer." That got the sheriff's attention. He allowed them immediate access to the child's room and offered to assist them in any way he could.

They dismissed the officers who were photographing the room. "Nice story." He and Dean usually broke into the crime scene after the police had left.

"Thanks. When I was in school I chose some forensics and criminal justice classes as electives. It comes in handy as a hunter."

Sam looked around while Sarah took some pictures. He found a trace amount of sulfur on the window sill where the demon had entered the room. Just outside of the window there were impressions of a pair of bare feet. It looked as though someone had been watching the little girl through the window. They went outside and photographed the footprints and looked for any others, but there were none. It was as if someone had appeared outside of the window.

They weren't going to be able to see the body until later that day when the county coroner came into town. They jumped back in the car and went to the motel to get some sleep. Sarah steeled herself up to tell Sam about John. When they walked in the room she sat down on his bed. "Sam, sit down. We need to talk."

He looked at her puzzled but complied. "I know why you and Dean came to see me. You want to know where your dad is."

He took a deep breath. "We think he might know where the demon is that killed our mom and Jess. We wanna help him fight it."

"I don't know where he is Sam. I talked to him a little over a week ago but he didn't say anything that would tell me where he is."

"What did he say? Buffy said he asked you to do something but that she didn't know what it was."

"He asked me to give you a message. He wants you to back off and stop looking for him."

Sam jumped up, "What!"

"Sam sit down."

He refused to sit down. He started pacing back which was bothering her. Finally, she got up and pushed him back down on the bed. "Hey!"

"Look Sam your dad loves you guys. Right now he is ruffling a lot of demonic feathers and doesn't want you two caught in the crossfire." She sat back down next to him. He was angry and not wanting to look her in the face. She placed her hand on his cheek and gently turned his face to look at her. "He doesn't want you two to get hurt okay. I know you probably won't listen because you are just as hard headed as he is, but I promised him I would give you the message."

"If it's as bad as he thinks it is, then he's gonna need us."

Sarah smiled. Sam really was hard headed, but she liked that about him. "Keep doing what you're doing then. Either he'll find you or a demon will." The thought of a demon finding them and killing them made her sad. She cared about all of the Winchesters. The thought of them dying hurt.

Sam noticed her smile fade. He brushed her hair back from her face, "We'll be fine," he said trying to reassure her.

She nodded and moved to get up, but he stopped her. He leaned in and gently kissed her. It slowly turned more urgent. His lips moved across her jaw and slid down her neck. She let out a slight moan and flung her leg across his lap so that she was straddling him. His lips found hers again and he hugged her closer to him.

It was a moment six years in the making. Nothing else mattered to them right then. They eventually drifted off to sleep content in the fact that they were together if only for a moment.


	7. Chapter 7

From the moment he had seen Willow, he had thought of her as his. It wasn't that he was possessive of her, it was more like she was his soul mate. No matter what had happened in college, they belonged together. He knew she was probably confused right now and vowed to give her whatever time she needed.

Willow wasn't as confused as she should have been. Yeah, okay, she was supposed to be gay, but this was Oz. Her Oz. To be honest, the only woman she had ever loved was Tara. She tried with Kennedy, but it wasn't the same. It felt wrong. Being around Oz again it felt natural to let him hold her hand or to be close to him. Whether that made her Bi or not she didn't know or care. She only knew that she wasn't going to let Oz go again.

They had been dancing around the issue all that morning when Willow finally brought it up, "Oz, what are we doing here?"

Oz's heart started to sink, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are we friends? Are we trying for something more?" Being gay had definitely made her less shy.

"I don't know. I would like there to be more, but I don't want you to feel pushed. I guess we are friends."

"I don't like that answer."

He was confused, "What answer would you like?"

She didn't bother answering him with words. She was done being afraid. She kissed him lightly then pulled away to judge his reaction. He smiled at her, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her tight. He had his Willow back.

Buffy watched the exchange from the training ground. Willow was happy again which made her happy. She turned her focus back toward Dean who she hoodwinked into recounting some of his recent hunts to the girls. At first he wasn't very happy about it but he really got into it after he realized that he had the girls' attention.

"And that's how we took down the scarecrow."

One of the girls raised their hands. Dean inclined his head towards her, "So you guys don't have any powers?"

The cocky smile he had on his face disappeared. "No we don't."

"So why not leave the hunting to us? It's what we were built for right?" she asked in a snotty tone.

Buffy saw anger flash on Dean's face and went to answer for him, but he got there first, "For us, it's about something more than being 'built for it'. We choose to fight these things. We may not have super strength or any of that crap, but we're out there every day hunting these things down so that nobody else has to go through what we did."

Buffy stepped forward, "Dean and his brother Sam have been raised to fight demons and vampires. They have more experience than all of you put together." That shut them up. "Partner up ladies it's time for hand to hand training."

Giles walked out of the school and approached Buffy. "I've just been on the phone with Dawn. Apparently has been some demonic activity on campus. "

"And she wants us to check it out?" Dawnie was studying at Cleveland State University majoring in teaching with a minor in psychology.

"She wanted me to ask you to send Kennedy and Rona. Since she is working towards becoming a watcher she wants the opportunity to lead a couple of girls on her own."

She looked uneasy, "What do you think Giles?"

"I think she is quite capable of taking point. She has been acting as watcher since she was fifteen. I think she can handle it."

"Alright, Send Xander with them. Make sure they all know that he is there as backup and nothing more. I'll let Dawnie take the lead on this one, but I want Xander there in case she needs him."

Giles nodded and walked away. Dean put his arm around Buffy, "She's a tough kid. She can handle it."

"She's not a kid anymore."

The snotty little slayer interrupted them, "So Dean, what about a sparring match? I wanna see what you're made of."

All morning they had been researching patterns and they now believed that they knew where the nightmare demon would strike next. They approached the family and explained that they were from the FBI working with the local sheriff's department to catch a possible serial killer. They asked the family to leave their home for the night so that they could stake out and hopefully catch the killer. After much debate they finally agreed.

That night, Sarah lay in the bed of the family's teenage daughter. Sam was hidden in the closet with the door open enough to keep an eye on her. Around midnight, Sam noticed a mist coming through the key hole into the room. When it formed fully, it was in the shape of a woman. She strode over to the bed and started to climb on top of Sarah.

Sam burst out of the closet and filled the key hole with putty to prevent the demon from escaping. It jumped off the bed and slammed Sam into the door. Sarah threw the covers off and went for the silver dagger hidden behind her back. The demon realized what was happening and flung Sam at the bed knocking Sarah to the floor. It tried to remove the putty to escape but Sam was up and grabbed the demon around the waist. It struggled to get away but Sarah got up and shoved the dagger into its heart.

The demon's body grew very warm very quickly. Sam let go just in time, because the demon exploded releasing the souls of its victims. They removed the putty from the key hole and cleaned up the mess in the room. When they were done, they told the family that it was safe to return home.

The next morning they packed up and got in the car to return to the school. "We don't have to go back. We could just disappear." He was only half joking. The thought of disappearing didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"We could try but you know that Dean would hunt us down." They both laughed, "Maybe someday we can disappear together, but that day isn't today."

He lifted her hand and kissed it. "Sounds good to me."

They got back to the school around three. They could see the girls gathered around in a large circle cheering. Curious, they approached the crowd and saw two figures fighting in the center. They pushed their way through to stand next to Willow and Oz. What they saw surprised them. Dean was fighting one of the slayer girls and getting his butt kicked.

"This is the greatest thing I think I have ever seen."

Sarah slapped him, "Shouldn't you be cheering your brother on?"

"Are you kidding? I wish I had a camera."

"Way ahead of you." Oz showed him the video camera he was using to tape the fight.

They all laughed. The fight only lasted for another minute. Dean landed a few good hits but was flattened by a kick to the face. She offered him her hand but he refused. "You got lucky that's all."

"I've got slayer strength. I've gotta admit though, you're pretty good for a human."

"Thanks."

Sam was clapping his hands. He loved any opportunity to tease Dean. "Way to go Dean. Letting a little girl flatten you like that. Beautiful."

"Shut up Sammy. Why don't you go fight her?"

"I'm not stupid enough." He laughed followed by Buffy and the rest of the girls.

Faith put her arm around Sam's shoulders, "I always knew your brother was the smart one."


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Sam told Dean about their dad's message. "He really expects us to back off?"

"Apparently."

Sam expected Dean to accept what their dad said, but was surprised instead when he replied, "I don't give a damn what he wants, he started us on this path and now we're gonna finish it."

"Are you seriously talking about disobeying a direct order?"

"Hell yeah I am Sammy. If he's planning on going after the yellow eyed demon then we're gonna help. He can't do it on his own."

"Then I may be able to help." They turned to see Willow, Sarah, Buffy, and Giles walking toward them.

"What're you talking about red?"

"We believe there is a demon in Chicago with a connection to the demon you seek." Giles handed them an envelope containing newspaper clippings.

"I wasn't able to find your father, but I decided to scry for the yellow eyed demon. When that didn't work I searched for connections to him and Chicago came up red hot."

"Thanks Willow," Sam hugged her, "we'll give it a look."

"Yeah, thanks red."

Sarah gave Sam a hug followed by a kiss. "Don't be strangers, okay?" She hugged Dean next.

"You know us," Dean said followed by a wink.

"That's my point."

Buffy pulled Dean in for a kiss. "Don't forget about me."

"Not a chance."

They said their goodbyes to Oz, Faith, Robin, and the rest of the girls and hit the road. They were definitely going to have to make Cleveland a frequent stop from now on.


End file.
